Karachi: Al Shaheer Corporation Limited, which recently held its initial public offering (IPO), boosted its net profit by more than half for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, according to a notification sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange on Friday.

The Karachi-based parent of Meat One – a high-end retail chain of butcheries – reported a net profit of Rs76 million in the July-September quarter, up 52% compared to Rs50 million in the corresponding period of 2014. Earnings per share for the quarter stood at Rs0.85.

One of the largest exporters of meat, Al Shaheer saw revenues for the quarter under review climb 69% to almost Rs1.9 billion compared to Rs1.1 billion in the same quarter of 2014.

“The result was healthy and remained in line with market expectations,” Taurus Securities’ Head of Research Zeeshan Afzal told The Express Tribune.

Afzal attributed the increase in revenues mainly to the expansion in business as the company had been expanding its branch network across Pakistan.

“Since Eidul Azha also fell during this quarter, the added proceeds from the Qurbani business also contributed to the growth,” he said.

Besides, he said an overall growth in the consumption of fast-moving consumer goods may have been helpful as well.

The company’s stock, which traded at Rs99.4 per share the previous day, rose 1% to settle at Rs100.55 at the close of market on Friday with over 9 million shares changing hands – the highest turnover since the company was listed earlier this year.

Talking about the heavy trading in Al Shaheer’s stock, Afzal said it indicated investors had started holding this share for long-term dividends.

After a phenomenal growth in business in the last couple of years, the company listed on the KSE in the first IPO of a local foods company in almost five years since the 2011 listing of Engro Foods. It raised Rs2.4 billion from the offer.

The company is using recently raised funds for its nationwide expansion to tap the country’s Rs1.25 trillion-strong meat market.

Administration and distribution expenses of the company rose 37% to Rs136.5 million in the July-September quarter compared to Rs99.7 million in the same quarter of previous year.

In a recent interview with The Express Tribune, CEO Kamran Ahmed Khalili said they would construct modern slaughterhouses and meat processing units for both red and white meat near Lahore and expand into the poultry segment, which is double the size of red meat market.

In the latest budget, the government allowed a four-year tax holiday to new Halal meat producers if they set up their facilities and acquired Halal certificates by December 2016.

The company is exempted from sales tax on both local and international sales while its income from exports is taxed at a favourable rate of 1% as opposed to the normal rate of 33%.